"Invisible Ink is a powerful tool for anyone who wants to become a better screenwriter. With elegance and precision, Brian McDonald uses his deep understanding of story and character to pass on essential truths about dramatic writing. Ignore him at your peril."
—Jim Taylor (Academy Award?- winning screenwriter of Sideways and Election)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Happy Birthday, Scott!

This is not my regular kind of post. Today would have been the birthday of my good friend Scott, whom I met 30 years ago. And since this is also the 30th Anniversary year for The Empire Strikes Back I thought I would post this short documentary I made in his honor one more time. If you are tired of seeing it I apologize.

Nicely done, Brian. 'Course I'm not exactly unbiased on that score because the same thing happened here in Dallas with General Cinema's Northpark 1 & 2. It was one of the first three cinemas in the U.S. to get THX, supervised by Lucas himself. Blade Runner premiered there, with Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott in attendance in the private upper balcony. If there was an event movie, you saw it at Northpark 1 & 2. I had to see Star Wars in a podunk theater in my parents' tiny hometown in Kansas. Not so The Empire Strikes Back, where the line wrapped all the way around to the back of the large building. NP 1&2 was a cinematic experience of the first order, as opposed to the carnival ride to the commercials you get now. I only go to theaters now when I want to see something on a big screen. Now that THX is gone in Dallas, my theater system at home sounds better than any theater around. So boy, can I relate on that score.

What I haven't lost is a good friend who shared those experiences with me, and for that I'm sorry for your loss. Your film is a great testimony.

As for your last line--"Wherever you are I hope there are only good Star Wars movies and no 4th Indiana Jones"--. I just finished watching the original Star Wars with my kids (my son had seen it with me last summer; my daughter never had), and it's almost physically jarring the difference in aesthetic between it and any of the prequels. I'm sure it will be even greater with Empire, which we're watching Friday. The hands of Kasdan (the greatest modern screenwriter?) and Kershner are sorely missed.

Glad you liked the film. Sounds like you had a cool theater too. I have heard that a lot since I made this film.

When I was making the film and told other filmmakers about it the all assumed that I was going to show old pictures of the theater. But I am a firm believer in the idea that letting the viewer fill in as much as possible will work better than anything I could show them. I knew that everyone would visualize his or her own theater or another place of importance from their own childhoods.